Home > Weekly Ezine > Healthy Ezine Archives > Issue 183

Healthy Ezine of the Week: Issue 183

Featured Article

Cholesterol and Statins

Fitness Tip

Diet or Exercise Plan?
If you are considering one or more popular diets or exercise plans, you owe it to yourself and your health to make sure their claims are valid. Ask yourself: Does the diet plan:

  • Promise a quick fix?
  • Encourage or require you to stop eating certain foods, food groups or products?
  • Rely on a single study as the basis for its recommendations?
  • Contradict recommendations of reputable health organizations?
  • Identify "good" and "bad" foods?
  • Just sound too good to be true?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, keep looking for a plan that is backed by solid science, lets you keep eating your favorite foods and allows for flexibility.

Nutrition Tip

Skip Breakfast and Gain Weight!
Omitting breakfast actually adds pounds. Here is why: After fasting all night, you are likely to have hunger pains long before lunch. The snack you take -- maybe some chips or cookies -- is likely to contain plenty of calories, salt, sugar and fat. However, psychologically you think that is all right, because you did not have breakfast. There is another mechanism involved as well. Your body reacts as if there is no food available. It wants to protect you against starvation. When you finally do eat, you will not burn the calories. You hang onto those calories and store them as fat for when the "famine" is over. Stored fat means extra pounds. In conclusion, it is true that eating breakfast is the best way to start your day. So just what should you eat? Complex carbohydrates such as whole-grain cereals, protein foods; but avoid those with saturated fat. Peanut butter is good as is plain yogurt, low-fat milk, soy milk and low-fat cheese. Eggs are rich in protein but also in cholesterol. New research says eating three or four eggs, a week is now fine.

Nutrient of the Week

Black Pepper
Black Pepper is the foremost detoxifier and anti-aging herb in Asia. A warming digestive remedy, it relieves gas and increases absorption of other nutrients. Increasing circulation, regulating blood pressure and easing joint movement, black pepper is also antioxidant, reducing free radicals. It prevents the destruction of vitamin A and other antioxidants. Black Pepper reduces respiratory mucus, easing sinus congestion. As a diuretic, it balances water in the body and regulates eye pressure.

Quick Recipe

Strawberries and Cream
1 quart fresh strawberries
1-1/2 cups fat-free sour cream
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur

Wash and dry strawberries. Cut large berries into halves or quarters, reserving 6 whole strawberries. Combine fat-free sour cream, brown sugar and liqueur. Mix fat-free cream sauce with the cut strawberries. Place into colorful bowls or sherbet glasses. Garnish with whole berries. Chill. Serve. Yield: 6 servings

Tidbit(s)

Getting Older? Don't Fear Memory Loss
Take heart! Age may not make us as forgetful as we're led to believe. When older adults take memory tests, negative stereotypes about aging may encourage poor results by increasing concerns or anxiety. In a recent study, adults read newspaper articles. Some articles presented findings that said mental declines in later life are inevitable; others said some memory skills were preserved with age. Those who read the positive messages performed about 30 percent better in memory tests than those who read articles reinforcing negative cultural stereotypes. Think positive!

Food Fixes

Store citrus fruits (especially grapefruit) upside down. Since the fruits hang from the trees, their sugars are more concentrated at the bottom. Placing them upside-down allows the sugars to redistribute throughout the fruit.

To jazz up pancakes, french toast, or waffles, add a dash or two of cinnamon and/or vanilla to the batter.

Use a cosmetic puff in your flour to dust your cookie sheets, and cake pans.

To keep the honey that's in the jar from making a mess in your cupboard, place the jar on a plastic lid. This helps to catch any drips that come down the sides.

This 'n That

Free recipes for many dietary needs!

Fitness and Freebies Sister Site, focuses strictly on nutrition! Lots of great food information! BellyBytes.com